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Top 15 Greatest Retro Signature Basketball Sneakers of All-Time

Every kid who grows up playing basketball dreams about a lot of accomplishments and career achievements. You want to make the varsity, and then start on the varsity. You want to earn a scholarship to a Division I school, and then you want to become an All-American at that college. You want to be good enough to get drafted, and you want to make an NBA roster. But perhaps one of the biggest dreams of any kid growing up shooting hoops in the driveway is that maybe, someday, you'll be legendary enough to have your own, signature shoe.

Going back to the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star, putting a name on a basketball shoe has turned players into superstars, and lined the pockets of sneaker companies with billions of dollars in revenue. Larger than life personalities are born out of shoe commercials, like the old Michael Jordan ads featuring Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, which kept asking the question, "Is it the shoes?" Well in a lot of cases, the answer is that yes, it is the shoes - at least, in terms of taking an enormous basketball talent and making him a transcendent figure in the sport. Some shoe companies have been better than others when it comes to rolling out signature basketball shoes, and in some cases you're left scratching your head, wondering why anyone thought it'd be a great idea to sell a $15 Stephon Marbury shoe in the first place. With all of that in mind, let's take a look at some of the coolest, most iconic signature shoes in NBA history.

8 Nike Air Pippen I (1997)

7 Reebok Kamikaze II (1996)

6 Nike Air Max 2 CB34 (1994)

5 Adidas Attitude (1986)

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4 Nike Air Max CW (1995)

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3 Nike Air Foamposite One (1997)

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2 Converse Weapon (1986)

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1 Air Jordan I (1985)

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Seriously, how could you expect anything else? When it comes to signature basketball shoes, it begins and ends with Air Jordan, and you really have to go back to where it all started with the Air Jordan I. It's not as fancy or flashy as the later editions, but the sneaker that Michael Jordan wore while torching the Celtics for 63 points in a game in the 1986 playoffs remains one of the most beloved signature shoes in history. There's really no question, it remains the greatest signature basketball sneaker of all-time.